The Perfect Nickname
by Writingnerd291
Summary: Nine struggled to find the perfect nickname for her, and tried all sorts of names until he finally found the right one. "You're such a dork sometimes." "Only sometimes?" "All the time."


**I don't own Lorien Legacies!**

* * *

Nine always called her different names, and rarely –if ever –called her Six. When they first met, it had been 'Sweetheart'. It had been used flirtatiously at first, and then tauntingly after he learned that she hated it. "Don't call me sweetheart." She had growled at him.

"Whatever you say, sweetheart." Had been his arrogant response accompanied by a smirk.

* * *

After 'Sweetheart' it had been 'Doll' which was used in the same way as the name before it. He used it to tease her and taunt her and to get under her skin in a way that no one else had ever been able to. "What are you doing, doll?" was the first time he had called her that.

"Don't call me doll. It makes you sound like a creepy old guy from a bad movie." She had retorted bitingly (Nine merely laughed and proceeded to call her 'Doll' for a week).

* * *

After 'Doll' it had been 'Love', which was just as bad –if not worse. "What's for breakfast, love?" he'd asked her as she helped Marina serve breakfast.

All eyes had been on them, and it had been silent until Ella burst into a fit of giggles. Then, the rest of them were laughing just as hard. "I guess I don't have to be the one to tell you how horrible that name is this time, do I?" she'd asked him with a smirk. Nevertheless, he'd called her 'Love' for three weeks (a record so far in their name game).

Somewhere during his time of calling her 'Love' mockingly, he started breathing out the name after their spars, or as she left the room. Sometime during those three weeks, he had stopped calling her 'Love' because she hated it, but had called her 'Love' because he meant it.

* * *

Soon enough, though, 'Love' got old, even for Nine. When he got tired of 'Love' he moved on to 'Babe' which had not been appreciated by Six. At least, it hadn't been appreciated until they made out on the roof of the John Hancock Center. "Babe, that was amazing." He had breathed out when they finally drew apart from each other.

"Of course it was. I'm amazing and you're eternally in awe of my presence." Six had replied haughtily while smirking at him.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?" he asked her after that.

"Yeah." Six had responded with a shrug. "I guess."

"You guess? Why aren't you sure?"

"You didn't ask me to be your girlfriend. Only asked if I would want to. That's the coward's path, Nine."

He sighed. "Fine, will you be my girlfriend?"

"That depends. Will you keep calling me ridiculous nicknames?" she had asked.

"Always, babe. Until I find the right one, that is."

* * *

He decided that 'Babe' wasn't right either. And when she saved his ass in a training exercise, he decided that the next name would be 'Angel'. "Thanks for saving me, Angel."

"Would you stop that? We're in the middle of a battle scenario." She had reprimanded him.

"Sorry, Angel. I just can't keep my attention off of you."

"Then I suggest you figure out a way to stay focused on the battle soon. I can't always be saving you when you're distracted, Nine."

"You won't need to, Angel. But I have to know, what was the fall from Heaven like?" he asked her cheesily.

She punched him in the gut so hard that he doubled over in pain. "Pay attention. There's a prize on the line here, and I don't want to be stuck on dish duty for a week. We have to beat the others."

"I agree, Angel. There are way better things we could be doing with our time."

She sighed. "I'm afraid to ask what you're talking about."

"Don't be, Angel. It's nothing we haven't done before."

"That's a lot of things, Nine."

* * *

But 'Angel' eventually got old, so Nine switched it out for another name –to the relief of everyone in the penthouse. He chose 'Princess' for the next name. As he lay down next to her on his bed, he breathed out the words to her for the first time, "I love you, Princess." He held his breath once he realized what he had just admitted.

"I love you too, Nine. Even if you keep calling me ridiculous names."

"They're not so bad!" he argued. "I thought that Princess was a good one."

She wrinkled her nose. "It makes me sound like a princess who needs saving. I prefer to do the ass-kicking. You're the one who always needs my help. Maybe I should call you 'Princess' instead." Needless to say, 'Princess' didn't last long at all.

(LINE BREAK)  
He really thought he had come up with the perfect name. None of the others had worked, but this one was perfect. "Nine, help me out with this." She said, indicating the stacks of weapons they were sorting in the armory.

"Whatever you want, Beautiful."

"Seriously? That's the one you came up with?" she asked him in disbelief.

"What? I thought that was a good one. I admit that Princess was terrible. Sorry."

She laughed. "No, Beautiful is better than the last one. But why would that come to mind while I'm in sweats and sorting guns?"

"Because you're always beautiful, Beautiful."

She had laughed again. "Pretty doesn't win wars, Nine."

"Pretty doesn't, but beautiful might, Beautiful."

"You're such a dork sometimes."

"Only sometimes?"

"All the time."

* * *

The next one slipped out when he was kissing her with one hand in her hair and the others traveling up and down her side. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and his knees here on either side of her hips. "The things you do to me, Sexy."

"Sexy? Is that the best you've got, Nine? I'm disappointed." That one lasted no longer than five minutes.

* * *

He really thought that this one was perfect. They had won the war and were just relaxing on the grass under a shady tree. He'd leaned back on his hands, and Six was sitting so that his legs were between her feet and her butt. She leaned sideways against him so that her head rested against his shoulder and curled into his neck. "I love you, Nine."

"I love you too. You are my everything, beloved."

"Beloved? You sound like an old man in a bad romance movie when you say that." She told him with a grin forming across her usually sharp features.

"I'll have you know that beloved is a perfectly acceptable nickname."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever you say." Despite the eye-rolls and how ridiculous she thought the name was, 'Beloved' stuck around for many weeks before the perfect name was finally found.

* * *

"Are you sure?" he asked nervously.

"Are you seriously asking me if I'm sure after I just said that I'll marry you?" she asked him. "Where's the overly cocky and arrogant Nine who called me sweetheart about five minutes after we first met? I want to marry him, not the softie in front of me now." She crossed her arms and stared at him.

His face lit up. "That's perfect! You're amazing, sweetheart!" he exclaimed. He lifted her up and whirled her around. "And the wedding is in a month. Wear something nice, sweetheart."

"You planned when our wedding would be before you asked me to marry you?" she asked. He nodded with a smirk. "Gutsy. In that case, I want to marry you. You're the guy I fell in love with."

"I knew you always secretly loved me, sweetheart." He boasted.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. So, are you going to stick with 'Sweetheart' from now on?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "Who knows? I might start the list from the beginning and work my way back."

"Don't you dare, Nine."

"I would never, sweetheart."

* * *

 **There it is! Just a cheesy little one-shot about Nix. I know that it's very OOC, but the idea just struck me and it seemed like it fit them pretty well when I first starting writing this. Anyways, please review and tell me your thoughts. Have a stupendous day/night!  
~Nerd**


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